Marine vessels typically include one or more hand levers via which an operator of the vessel can control the vessel's engine/transmission pairs (i.e., power trains). It is common for a separate hand lever to be provided for each power train, though a single hand lever may control more than one power train and separate hand levers may be provided for each of shift control and throttle control.
A marine vessel may have any number of helms, or control stations, from which an operator may control the vessel. Each helm typically has a steering mechanism, such as a steering wheel, for controlling the direction in which the vessel moves, and a control unit for controlling shift position and/or throttle. FIG. 1 depicts a typical prior art single top mount control unit 10 for controlling a marine vessel. The control unit 10 includes a housing 12 and a hand lever 20. The hand lever 20 controls the throttle of an associated engine (not shown) and the shift position of an associated transmission (not shown). The hand lever 20 may be rotationally coupled to the housing 12 via a rotational coupling mechanism 26, and may include a hand lever knob 22 and a handle 24.
The hand lever 20 can be moved through an operational range from reverse wide open throttle to forward wide open throttle. By moving the hand lever 20 along its operational range, an operator can control the shift position of the associated transmission and the throttle of the associated engine. The control unit 10 may include a shift status indicator 14 that indicates the current shift and throttle position of the hand lever 20.
Such vessels also typically include electrically controlled horns. For this purpose, a horn controller is provided to enable the operator to sound the horn. Typically, such a horn controller includes a button mounted on the housing of the control unit or elsewhere at the helm.
In known systems, the horn button is located away from the hand lever, which causes the operator of the vessel to have to remove his hand from either the hand lever or the steering wheel in order to sound the horn. This is undesirable because, in situations where the operator needs to sound the horn, the operator usually wants to be able to steer the vessel and control its shift and throttle. Also, the operator typically has to take his eye off the “road” in order to locate the horn button to sound the horn. The time it takes for the operator to locate to the horn button may be amplified on vessels having more than one control station because the horn buttons may be in different locations at different stations and the operator may not remember immediately where the horn button is located at the station from which he is currently operating the vessel. Again, in a situation in which the operator needs to sound the horn, he probably does not want to take his eye off the “road.” Thus, systems in which the horn controller is located away from the hand lever may be dangerous.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to operators of such vessels if the operator could control the vessel's horn without having to remove a hand from either the hand lever or steering wheel and without having to take his eyes off the “road.”